Do Celebrities Sell Games Better Than Actual Game Reviewers?

According to data from EEDAR games research analyst Jesse Divnich (via Kotaku), celebrities are better spokespeople for video games than actual game reviewers. Makes my life seem pretty meaningless, doesn't it?

Now, the argument here is that Guitar Hero: World Tour's commercials, featuring the likes of Heidi Klum and Kobe Bryant, were the reason it outsold Rock Band 2 despite the latter receiving better reviews. I'm going to have to say hold the rotary phone on this one, though. Sure, Guitar Hero outsold Rock Band, but keep in mind that it was GH's fourth iteration but only RB's second. What difference does that make? A big one, as GH is a household name, while RB, while known, doesn't have the same deafening resonance. It's like asking kids, "Do you want to drink Coke or King Lightning?" They'll be cheering as soon as they hear the word "Coke" even though King Lightning is a far superior drink (It's a drink that I make in my bath tub that's part sugar, part listerine. Trust me, it's the bomb diggy).

Sure, having Heidi Klum dance in her underwear looks nice, but if she had done it for Rock Band, do you really think it would have outsold GH, which has a huge following already and doesn't even NEED to roll out the red carpet as it did to sell a few million copies of its game? Probably not. But that's not to say that Heidi Klum couldn't sell a game better than me, because she could. She DEFINITELY could. I mean seriously, she's on tv, and I'm hunched over in my living room, rubbing the dirt on the back of my neck to keep the heat off. Maybe there's a better example out there of a game with starpower triumphing over a better game without it but Guitar Hero/Rock Band is a bad example. Rock Band never had a chance. Not when the old dog's still in town, anyway.